CPIM Practice Exam

After releasing an order with unavailable resources, what is a possible outcome?

1. Work-in-process inventory will be lower.

2. Dispatching will delay this order.

3. Idle capacity will occur at some work centers.

4. An alternate work center will automatically be utilized.

The correct answer is: Idle capacity will occur at some work centers.

When an order is released without the necessary resources being available, one of the likely outcomes is that idle capacity will occur at some work centers. This situation arises because the work centers that are meant to process the order may not have the required materials, tools, or personnel available to complete the task. As a result, these work centers will remain unproductive or idle since they cannot execute the work assigned to them without the essential resources. This idleness directly impacts operational efficiency and can lead to a backlog of work once resources become available. The scenario also affects production scheduling and may extend lead times since tasks cannot proceed as planned. Therefore, it highlights the importance of ensuring that all resources are available before releasing orders to maintain optimal production flow and utilization of work centers.